REVIEW: Kikki K 2015 TIME PLANNER LARGE: LILAC

Hello everyone! I thought it was about time I did another review! The last review I did  was about washi tape from Chiyogami Designs, back in March this year!

Last week I ordered some goodies from Kikki.K, and I have been (im)patiently waiting for them to arrive. I placed the order on Thursday evening 23.10.14, and it arrived today, Friday 31.10.14. They sent my order on the Friday 24.10.14, so it took five working days to reach me. Melbourne to the outskirts of Brisbane Qld delivery of 5 working days isn't too bad, and this is an Australia Post thing anyway, nothing to do with Kikki.k!

WARNING: this post has heaps of photos... I wanted to show you all what the planner looks like inside so please bear with me!

So, what did I order?

1. 2015 Time Planner in Lilac with Gold specs
2. PERSONAL PLANNER REFILL: UPPSALA
3. Adhesive dots

Opening the box

The excitement that welled up in me when I caught sight of this box on the door step had me almost jumping up and down in glee. Only other stationery aficionados could ever relate! 

Hooray the delivery from Kikki.K has arrived	An Aladdin's cave inside the box!

I opened the box, and the first thing I removed was the large plastic bag air cushions that Kikki.K use to protect packages. It would be great if they could maybe use recyclable/more environmentally friendly inserts to protect the package, but I am a wee bit too excited about getting to my order in the box to think too long about the future of our planet.

First glimpse of contents

I really love this little canvas drawstring bag my goodies arrived in!

Here you can see my planner, the Uppsala refills and the sticky dots I ordered! Sitting on the canvas drawstring bag, and on top of the Kikki.K wrapping paper!

2015 TIME PLANNER LARGE: LILAC 

I will review the Uppsala planner refills in another post, today I would like you all to see the wonderful lilac and gold Time Planner. (If you have been trying to decide whether you want to buy one or not, hopefully the pictures and my comments will help you make your decision either way!)

Still in its plastic bag, 'Arabella' my new planner is waiting to be unpacked! Yes I have named her Arabella...any objections??? 

The folder  of the Large Time Planner is slightly larger than my Filofax Metropol A5 (blogged about here, here, and here), and it takes the same refill size as an A5 Filofax. The cover is softer than my Metropol, but this does not mean it is in any way flimsy. The lilac is a lovely pastel lavenderish colour and the gold specs make it look fun as well as being useful!! 

There is an elasticised strap to hold the planner together which I prefer to a snap closure, as when i have a heap of documents in a planner I would prefer knowing they will stay there and not break the fastener!

Inside the Planner

Firstly I will share my not so happy thoughts of the inside of the planner. The we can speak at length of all the good parts of it!

The dividers are pink.. this for me is not a good thing, I dislike pink, and personally in a lilac planner I would have preferred purple dividers, or gold like the dots on the cover.  This is not a deal breaker for me, as I can decorate the dividers or make new ones anyway. But be warned if you don't like pink, you won't like these dividers!

There is a section for restaurants and shopping. This really isn't me.. but again this is not a deal breaker, i can rename the divider and i can give the restaurant and shopping pages (there aren't many) to someone who will use them!

What I love about this planner:

Firstly the ring mechanism is large and can hold heaps of paper! It is also well constructed and has no closure issues (the first thing I check with planner binders)

The cover of the planner is stylish, fun, and strong; I love the elasticised closure to hold all my papers in!

There is a zipped pocket, and flaps to put notes, stickers, receipts,  tickets and whatever else you can think of in, on the inside of the front cover. All very handy!

Inside the back cover is a slot where an A5 sized notepad sits, and there is a pen loop as well, which JUST fits my Parker pen.

The paper the planner comes with is slightly cream coloured (off white) and has a satin finish. It is quite strong and smooth to write on, but my Stabilo fine point felt pens do leech through the pages a bit, this is not an issue, I have other pens and pencils I can use.

VERDICT

I bought this particular planner to use as a project planner, I have a specific use in mind for it. I believe that its size, additional pockets and the fact it has an elasticised closure is ideal for the purpose.  

I am very happy with this planner and personally recommend it. You can find it in Kikki.K stores and also from their online shop. Like all their planners I believe it may be a limited edition so if you are wanting one, maybe buy one soon! 

personalising my filofax my way : Dividing to conquer

The filofax Metropol A5 binder is definitely impressive, it has two pen slots, a heavy duty snap fastening clasp, one large pocket and 10 small pockets inside the front cover, and one mesh pocket inside the back cover. The vinyl is tough and looks good and the stitching around the binder is impeccable. The colour is happy but not gaudy, and the ring binding mechanism is sturdy.

Do i have any complaints about my new filofax?
Oh yes indeedy I do.

Why oh why filofax people do you make such gorgeous and useful and strong binders, only to ruin the image with your hideous and unimaginative inserts?  The paper is thin, the printed address sheets, to do lists, and personal information pages are poorly designed, and do not get me started on the dividers!!!

the inserts the filofax came with

The main reason I wanted the filofax is for the superb binder, so this is ok. I can deal with the insert issue. I am creative, I have a computer, and i have a printer, and i know what i want!

First to decide how i want to organise my filofax, as this will determine what templates i need.

DIVIDERS!
I am thinking that five MAIN divisions will be the best option for me and i can make subdivisions within each main heading. I do not want my filofax to contain things about my day job, as this organiser is something for me to support my creativity, organisation, and self education.

The five main tabs dividing the filofax that work best for what i want are:

• Information: calenders, maps, train timetables, time conversions
• Study: information about the current course i am doing, additional and required reading, and notes
• Business: this is about my etsy store where i sell my handcrafted goodies; craft suppliers, and customers
• Home: grocery lists, budget, to do lists for home
• Ideas: where i will put sketch paper to draw designs, or stick swatches of fabric , or work on blog posts

I bought a pack of five A5 dividers from Marbig, they were $2.45 from Officeworks; the prepunched holes do not match up with the filofax' but that is just a matter of punching new holes in them which was easy and doesn't look silly. 

The A5 Marbig dividers in my filofax

The Marbig dividers have colourful plastic coated tabs, and come with a sturdy index page as well.

I can then use the A-Z and the numbered tabs that came with the filofax as subdividers (after I have decorated them to make them interesting!)


While I am talking about the dividers, I want to share this little tip with you: not all your to do lists need to be kept forever as an indelible part of your organiser, sometimes they are just quick notes to be thrown away as soon as the task is complete. This is why i made myself a laminated page to stick sticky notes on to, these can then be discarded when no longer needed!

sticky notes (new or with memos on them) can be stuck on this laminated page

So there you have it, dividers ready to go, and onto creating templates for my filofax!

Feel free to comment!

.

I have just created some #templates to use in my #filofax you can download them from my blog http://t.co/zDfYokPJy2
— empressbat (@empressbat) January 25, 2014

.

............................................................................................................... Please visit me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat handcrafted gothic goodies at bargain prices. see me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat ...Please visit me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat handcrafted gothic goodies at bargain prices. see me on etsy! www.etsy.com/shop/empressbat